Entertainment

High Schooler's Unbelievable Dunk Is Viral Video Gold

What you are about to see is, by all appearances, actually real. Unexplainable, preposterous, utterly indescribable — but real.

The video embedded above, which took over the sports Internet on Wednesday, shows Victor Dukes — a high school sophomore in Jonesboro, Ark. — quite literally taking flight to throw down a vicious one-hander while looking down at the rim and injuring some poor wannabe defender in the process.

It purportedly comes from a matchup between Dukes' Nettleton High squad and intrastate opponent Manila High, at something called the NEA Tournament — all of which checks out.

The video must be seen to be believed, but here are a several reasons why it's an all-time classic dunk clip:

The earnest play-by-play man's giddy call: "Oh, my goodness ... He just injured a player with a dunk!"

Dukes somehow gains more altitude with a mid-jump after-burst, which looks physically impossible but is in fact not unprecedented in basketball history.

Victor Dukes is a sophomore in high school.

The moment at :06, where we can pause the video to see Dukes looking down at the rim.

The fact that the teammates of the poor kid who got so epically dunked on are considerate enough to help him up from the floor instead of doing something like this.

The moment at :10, where said attempt fails and the kid slumps back to the ground in a pained, humiliated, wholly defeated pile of posterization aftermath.

Did we mention that this kid is just a high school sophomore?

Maybe we'll have to add him to this video roundup someday:

15 YouTube Videos of NBA Stars Dominating in High School

1. Derrick Rose

The Chicago Bulls point guard starred at the Windy City's Simeon Career Academy in high school before playing one season of college ball then getting picked first overall by his hometown pro team in the 2008 NBA Draft. He was league MVP in 2011, and is currently on the road to recovery from a serious knee injury.

As a high schooler, he was the top-ranked player in the country. This video, which has over 2.6 million YouTube views, makes it easy to understand why.

2. Vince Carter

Before becoming the rather husky swingman you see in Dallas today, Carter was known as "Air Canada" for his high-flying exploits as a Toronto Raptor. Before that, he starred at the University of North Carolina. Before that, he dunked all over helpless youngsters as a Florida high school legend.

3. James Harden

The Oklahoma City Thunder guard is known as much for his epic beard as smooth game today. But just a few years ago, he was a baby-faced prep star leading Artesia High School to back-to-back California state championships.

4. LeBron James

This Ohio news report on a local high school sophomore by the name of LeBron James is priceless today. From coaches speculating that he might make the NBA one day, to his earnest interviews, it's amazing to compare this with the global icon we know today. Newsman Brad Forster, who you see in the clip, uploaded it to his personal YouTube channel in 2010.

5. John Wall

Wall starred at the University of Kentucky for one season before becoming the first overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft. This compilation is from his senior year of high school at Word of God Christian Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina, is pretty freaking sweet and has 6.8 million views on YouTube.

6. Jason Kidd

What makes this highlight reel even more impressive? It all comes from one game, when Kidd led St. Joseph's High School from Alameda, California, to the 1992 state championship. He then went on to star at Cal and is currently wrapping up his Hall of Fame career with the New York Knicks.

7. Brandon Jennings

Jennings is a budding star for the Milwaukee Bucks. This video, which has more than 1.3 million YouTube views, shows him as a high schooler dominating for Oak Hill Academy and in various club team tournaments.

8. Kyrie Irving

After being this awesome in high school, Irving played one year at Duke, became the first overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, then won the league's Rookie of the Year award in 2012.

This video of his high school exploits has earned more than 1.5 million YouTube views.

9. Anthony Davis

Davis, the first overall pick of the June's draft, is being counted on to help lead the New Orleans Hornets back to respectability. This is him destroying all comers during his senior year at Chicago's Perspectives Charter School way back in 2010 and 2011.

10. Austin Rivers

Davis will be joined in New Orleans by Rivers, another highly touted rookie. He's the son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, and is seen here killing it at Winter Park High School in Florida as a senior in 2010 and 2011. The impressive mix has been viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube.

11. Damian Lillard

Who's that, you ask? Lillard, the sixth overall pick of June's NBA Draft, is a trendy pick among many analysts to take home the Rookie of the Year award this year. This is him back at Oakland High School in the Bay Area of California.

12. Rajon Rondo

So Rondo's been doing that fake behind-the-back move forever! This is the current Celtics star during his final year of high school ball, in 2004 at national basketball power Oak Hill Academy.

13. Josh Smith

Rondo was joined at Oak Hill that season by current Atlanta Hawks star Josh Smith. Now that's what's called an unfair advantage.

14. Carmelo Anthony

A couple years before that, current New York Knick Carmelo Anthony played for Oak Hill and, yeah, he was pretty good and dunked a lot, too.

15. Amar'e Stoudemire

And here's Anthony's current Knicks teammate Stoudemire completely taking a bunch of high schoolers to well, school, as a prep in Orlando, Florida. All these dunks and blocks, from just four games. What are you supposed to do against a kid like that?

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